For your Thursday response paper, synthesize your reading of all three plays of the Oresteia by responding to this quotation by Prof. Burian (1): Aeschylus’ Oresteia…is…one of those peaks (like Dante’s Comedy, Michelangelo’s frescoes for the Sistine Chapel, or Bach’s St. Matthew Passion) that loom above the other mountains of Western culture as defining expressions [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Oresteia’
Is the Oresteia a masterpiece? Writing assignment for Thursday, Feb. 26th
Posted in writing assignments, tagged Oresteia on February 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Reading assignment for Tuesday, Feb. 24th
Posted in reading assignments, tagged capital punishment, Eumenides, Furies, Jaeger, Oresteia on February 21, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Please continue reading the Oresteia by reading the last play, The Eumenides. In class, we’ll talk about: capital punishment (review both articles, and the lists of mitigating/aggravating circumstances I provided on Thursday). Other resources/optional reading: “The State Without an Executioner” by R.R. Reno on the First Things blog. This essay evaluates some religious perspectives on [...]
The symbolic value of libations
Posted in commentary, tagged Libation Bearers, libations, Oresteia on February 17, 2009 | 4 Comments »
At the end of class today, I mentioned that libations carry a great deal of symbolic weight in this play. Much of this come from Prof. Burian’s introduction to the play (pp. 28-38). The ritual significance of these drink-offerings comes through in Orestes’ observation that the chorus brings the drink-offerings to the grave of Agamemnon [...]
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